The Daily Show: Ears Edition - John Boyega - "Breaking"

Episode Date: August 22, 2022

“I need to sort me out first.” Actor and producer John Boyega discusses portraying a Marine Veteran with PTSD in “Breaking”, working with legends Michael K. Williams and Viola Davis, and why he decided to take a break and work on himself just as his career was taking off.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to Comedy Central. Please welcome, John Boega. All right. The TV is it over. Yeah, man. I'm sorry. All right. The show you, man.

Yeah, I'm doing. Look at you. Look at you. Look at you. Thank you, man. I'm going to. Thank you, man. I'm doing well. Look at you, looking great, man. Thank you, man. I decided to go Angel Gabriel today, you know, I love it. I love it. You're pulling it off.

Let's jump straight into it. The movie. Congratulations. You know, I know you're capable of slight twist on what we've seen you do before. It's really intense and it's a really powerful story that I think comments on what's going on in America today. Talk me through it, like how did you get into this project and what made you go, yeah, you know what, this is the next movie for me. I read an amazing script to the bank, trying to demand his money back from the Veterans Affairs was something that was just interesting. And it's just a combination of who you're working with, Nicole Beherry, Salinas, Michael

Kay Williams. Wow. You know, this is a cast that made me definitely get out of bed. Yeah, no. You know what I love about a story like this is, you know, one, it's based, one, one, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, th.. th. th. thi, thi, thi, the thi, the the thi, the thi, the the, the, the, thi, thi, the, the, the, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th. th. th. th. th. that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, th... th. th. th. th. th. thi, thi, thi, thi. thi. the thi. thi. thi. the the thi. the the thi. the the the the the. the thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. that's,'s based in the truth. Yeah, that's the first thing. And secondly, you can see the humanity and the storytelling. You have this man who goes, I've served this country, I've fought for this country, the story many veterans have in the US. And then they come home and then their country just deserts them. Yeah, it was actually shocking to even hear about the story. about it, you know, in a sense that it happened in 2017, and this is just literally a few years ago,

and this is something that none of us, it kind of happened under our nose. But to hear the detail about what vets are going through when they come home, that integration back into public life is kind of complicated. For me as an actor, you know, I'm just a veteran It's not it is not just a situation

This is about a human being who who is in the situation. I mean you talked for instance to the real version of the character's like like his his ex-wife and you talk about the journey. What did you learn about the human being that you were going to be portraying on the screen? She she told she told the the the the the the the the the human? She the human. She's the human. She's the human. She's the human. She's to learn? She's the human. She's the human. She's the human. She's the human. She's the human. She's the human. She's th. th. th. the human. the human. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the human. He. He. He. He. He. He. He. He. He. He. He. He. He. He. He. He. He. He. He. He. He. He. He. He. He. He. He. He. He. He. He. He. He. He. He. He. He. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the, the, the, the, the, is, the, is, the, is, is, the, is, is, is, the. the. the. the, is not. the, is not. the, is not. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. to be portraying on the screen. She told us so many gems and it's specifics as an actor. I want to hear how this man spoke. I want to hear about his interests. He was very much into movies, nerd stuff that I'm into. His voice, his voice, his voice, his voice, his voice, his voice, he has a ti-ti-ti. ti. quite timid voice. His walk, you know, we have CCTV footage, documentation about the case, and that all just helps to inform, you know, the performance. And that's what I used to go through as

Ryan. You did a great job in doing it and as you say, like the team that's working with you, I mean, everyone deserves to be lauded. But you know, obviously, you know, Michael K Williams, you know, Michael K Williams, you have th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. You th. You th. You th. You th, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you th, you th. thi, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th, you th, you th, you th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. that, that, that, that that that that that that thi that thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi 'll be the last film that we get to see him. I think so. He might have one after I'm not sure but this is this is one of the last at the very least. Yeah. The story getting to it was amazing because if I understand correctly you basically had to beg them. You had to like chase him. Trevor I begged him. I have to beg him. I have to beg to beg. I have to beg. I have to beg. I have to beg. I have to beg. I have to beg. I to beg. I to beg. I to beg. I to beg. I to beg. I to beg. I the their. I their. I their. I th. I th. I th. I their. I th. I th. I th. I this. I this. I this. I this. I this. I this. I this. I this. I this this. I this this this. I this this. I this. I this this. I this. I this. I this. I this. I this. I this. I this. I this. I this. this. this. this. this. this. this. this. this. this. this. this. this is this is this is th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. this is this is this is this is this is this is one. this is this is this is this is yeah, you requested for him to be in the movie? No, no, it was, you know, I had to beg him. Such a versatile actor, an actor that doesn't need to come and shoot my small little indie movie for $2.50. You know what I mean? So it was, it was me just asking him to collaborate, to come in and do a a few weeks work and he just showed up on a th...... it and for me I grew up watching the wire I grew up watching boardwalk Empire so

to see you know Michael K Williams walk on set to be motivated to be motivated and ready to shoot I was just like yeah this is this is a dream that's come to do you know he you know what a fan you were of his oh yeah you've got like a DVD box one of those people that I have so many people, especially black individuals for me who are inspiring to look up to. So yeah, I'm gonna let you know why you still hear that. You're inspirational. I love it. I have to tell him straight up. I like that. I've always said, like, anyone who is Nigerian has the ability to inspire the best in you as a human being. I feel that's what you bring out.

Absolutely. You've just got that thing. I see criminals. I'm being, you have motivation. Good motivation. Oh, man. Speaking of, I'm the t-s. Yo, like, we're so excited. As soon as I saw you in a movie with Viola Davis and then Tucson Beiddle from South Africa,

I was just like, when is the movie coming out? As soon as I saw me in a movie of Violet Davis. Yes. And so, yeah, that movie comes out, September 6th, the woman king. Yes. It's with Viola Davis. Man, it looks badass. It looks crazy. I was actually at the AMC at the Grove the other day and the both trailers came up,

breaking trailer came up before Brad Pitt's bullet train and also the Woman King. And the Woman King trailer got a round of applause from the audience. I was tempted to say, I was in that. But I left that there for the audience just to enjoy this story that I think is just going to be so so epic for everybody to enjoy. You know what I love for you doing the story as well is, you know, I fell in love with you like most people did with Attack the Block. You know, I was just like, this is one of the most amazing movies. I've heard there's a sequel and I hope it's true. Yeah, yeah. But I've always loved to to to to to to you you to to to to you to th. th. You th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. tho. tho. I tho. tho. I tho. I the the the their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their. I their. I their. I their. I their. I their. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. th. tho. tooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo. th. th. th. th. th. the th. th.'m correct, is the first film where you get to be like your family, you get, you know what I mean?

You get to embody like your mother tongue, you know? Yeah, I use my dad's voice for the king role. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, you know, I even wanted to grow a bit of a belly so it can just, you know, to emphasize that. You know, to emphasize thi. Parole as an African man playing a king but also playing a king who who loves his people who loves his women and And supports them and protected by these women By these women, theyme was for me great. I mean normally we get into movies and you know male lead Wanted to be the number one movie start do all the action. That's overrated I liked the women doing Yes, I said go girl. Go get it. So that was fun. I can't I can't wait for you. to to to to to to th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I the th. I the the th. I th. I th. I th. I the the the the the the the th. the the to the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th. I. I th. I the. I that. I took. I took. took. I try. took. took. took. try. took. the thea. thea. the the. I the. Go get it. So that was fun.

I can't wait for you guys to see that movie. It's amazing. Before I let you go, I would love to talk about the break that you took. You know, John Boyega, like you launched onto the scene. You came on everyone was loving you as an actor, as a, as a, I mean, as a guest, magnetism and then I distinctly remember you saying I'm gonna take a moment yeah how did you maintain the courage to say no John first and then I'll get back into my career I just got to a point where I was like life needs a sense of balance and sometimes you you go towards something can you achieve it but there's no fulfillment because you've forgotten about the most important

which is the self and in thinking about that I was just like yeah I need to sort me out first. So now when I get to a certain stage and when bigger opportunities come that I'm genuinely ready for it and not intimidated by it and honestly I twiddled my toes and my little furry socks. I went on holiday had some good times and then I relaxed and got got my stuff sorted got in the gym, got reading, got into a routine and I think a lot of us need to do that, right, just to get back into a healthy. Yeah, man, yeah. Yeah, man. My dude, that's why you're going to be a great, that's like you're great right now. Good to see you again, man.

John Boyega, ladies and gentlemen. the d' today to the daily to to to to to to to to to be to be to be to be thoe. thoe. thoe. thoe. to be the d. the. the. the d. the d. the their their their to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to to to to to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be w. Yeah, to be w. Yeah, to be w. Yeah, to be w. Yeah, to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be the, the the the, the the the the the. the theate. the the theate. to to to to the to to to to to to to to to to to to the Daily Show on YouTube for exclusive content and stream full episodes anytime on Paramount Plus. This has been a Comedy Central Podcast.